Ratings Roundup: FOX Off to Best LCS Start Since 2009; TBS Sees Decent NLCS Start After ALDS Rise

The Boston Red Sox dramatic ALCS-tying comeback win on Sunday over the Detroit Tigers delivered a 5.2/8 national household rating, with 8.3 million viewers, up 44% compared to last year’s National League Championship Series Game 2 on FOX (3.6/6; 5.6 million viewers). Last night’s Game 2 – highlighted by David Ortiz’s game-tying 8^th-inning grandslam – was also up +24% over 2011’s Game 2 of the ALCS on FOX (4.2/8; 6.6 million viewers for Tigers vs. Rangers).

Game 1, meanwhile, delivered a 4.2/8 national household rating, with 6.8 million viewers, up 20% compared to Game 1 of the 2011 ALCS on FOX (3.5/7; 5.8 million viewers for Tigers-Rangers). Saturday’s game tied 2010 as FOX’s highest-rated Game 1 of an LCS since Angels-Yankees in 2009 (5.2/10; 8.4 million).

Through two games, the 2013 ALCS on FOX is averaging a 4.7/8 (7.5 million viewers), up +21% over last year’s 3.9/6 for NLCS on FOX, tying 2010’s LCS average as FOX’s highest-rated through two games since 2009. Through two games, Detroit leads all markets with a 30.5/47 and recorded its best LCS rating ever with last night’s game (34.5/50).  Boston’s two-game average is a 21.2/39…

…The first two games of TBS’ NLCS coverage featuring the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals averaged a 3.0 U.S. HH rating and 4.7 million total viewers, increases of 50% and 47% compared with a 2.0 U.S. HH rating and 3.2 million total viewers for the first two games of the 2011 NLCS on TBS (but down 21% in ratings and 23% in viewership from last year’s ALCS  numbes of 3.8 and 6.1 million). Through two games, the 2013 NLCS averaged a 28.8 HH rating in St. Louis (up 10% from 2011’s two-game average of 26.2) and a 10.5 HH rating in LA (up 18% from an 8.9 HH rating through two games in 2009, the last time the Dodgers appeared in the LCS)

The network’s NLCS Game 2 telecast on Saturday afternoon averaged a 2.2 U.S. HH rating, up 16% over Game 2 of the 2011 NLCS which aired in primetime on TBS and averaged a 1.9 U.S. HH rating. The corresponding 3.4 million total viewers for this year’s telecast is a 13% increase over the average of three million total viewers for Game 2 of the 2011 NLCS.

TBS’s coverage of the 13-inning Game 1 averaged a 3.5 U.S. HH rating and 5.5 million total viewers, up 67% and 63%, respectively, compared with a 2.1 U.S. HH rating and 3.4 million total viewers for the network’s comparable NLCS Game 1 telecast between the Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers in 2011…

…As for TBS’s Division Series coverage, the networks’ 18 live telecasts averaged 3,890,000 total viewers, an increase of 6% compared with an average of 3,633,000 total viewers for the postseason to date last year. The corresponding 2.5 U.S. HH rating (based on Nielsen Fast Nationals) is up 4% over a 2.4 U.S. HH rating for the same period in 2012.

The network’s most-viewed MLB Postseason telecasts through the Division Series were Game 6 of  Pittsburgh-St. Louis NLDS (6.1 million total viewers), Game 5 of Detroit-Oakland ALDS (5.5 million), Game 4 of Boston-Tampa Bay ALDS (5.2 million), The Tampa Bay-Cleveland A.L. Wild Card Game (4.7 million), and the Pittsburgh-Cincinnati N.L. Wild Card Game (4.6 million).

Pittsburgh tallied a 33.7 for the N.L. Wild Card Game vs. Cincinnati, the highest-rated MLB game ever in the market. Game 5 in the Pirates/Cardinals series posting a 33.6 HH rating in St. Louis, the highest-rated MLB game in the market since Game 6 of the 2012 NLCS. Tigers/Athletics Game 5 generating a 29.1 HH rating in Detroit, the highest-rated Division Series game ever in the market. Game 4 in the Red Sox/Rays series earning a 19.7 in Boston, the second-highest rating for an MLB game in the market since Game 7 of the 2008 ALCS…

…In Week 6 NFL overnights action, NBC’s Washington/Cowboys “Sunday Night Football” drew a 13.6 overnight rating (up 8% from 12.6 for Packers/Texans last year 12.6), while ESPN’s Colts/Chargers Monday Night Football game had an 8.7 overnight (down 5% from 9.2 for both Broncos/Chargers last year). FOX had a pair of increases for its Week 6 doubleheader, earning a 17.5 overnight for the national afternoon window featuring Saints/Patriots in 86% of markets (up 9% from 16.1 for Giants/49ers last year) and 11.6 overnight for the early window featuring Packers/Ravens in 58% of markets (up 1% from 11.5 for Cowboys/Ravens last year). The singleheader window on CBS earned a 10.9 overnight (down 5% from last year’s 11.5). (SportsMediaWatch)…

…Finally, the college football overnights game on Saturday was led by ABC with a 3.7 overnight for the Texas/Oklahoma “Red River Rivalry” game (up 6% from a 3.7 for the same match-up last year, but the second-worst overnight for the rivalry game since 2006). ABC’s regional window later in the day drew a 2.5, down 17% from last year (3.0). Meanwhile, CBS scored a 3.4 for the Florida/LSU game (up 55% from a 2.2 for Alabama/Missouri last year). ESPN’s also earned a 3.4 overnight for Texas A&M/Mississippi on Saturday night (down 8% from S3.7 for outh Carolina/LSU last year), a 2.6 overnight for the quadruple-overtime Michigan/Penn State game, and a 2.4 for Missouri’s upset of Georgia. The Oregon/Washington game earned a 1.3 overnight on Fox Sports 1 — easily the network’s highest college football overnight and topping Baylor/Kansas State game on FOX (1.0) head-to-head. (SportsMediaWatch)